✖️✖️✖️✖️

Hook laid Red down on the bed inside of the Blanchard apartment as he stepped back and let David and Snow on both sides of her.

"Is she okay?" Zephyr spoke up from in between his parents.

"Why is she down here?" Henry also asked as David began, "Is she...?"

"No, she's still breathing," Astrid assured.

"Well, how long do you think she'll be out?" Snow questioned them.

Peter sighed, "I don't know. We hit her with some strong stuff."

"Where has she been since she left Storybrooke?" David inquired in confusion.

"I don't know. She went to find her pack." Snow shrugged.

"Unless they're dead, I'd say she's sniffing in the wrong place," Regina commented.

"Any explanation for what she's doing here?" Hook also asked.

Emma showed everyone a piece of plaid cloth in her hand, saying, "Just this."

Astrid stepped forward and moved over to Red and replied, "Let's find some answers, then." She hovered her hands over the werewolf's body as her hands glowed white now.

Astrid's veins darkened as she continued to heal the wolf and then stepped back slightly breathless just as Red gasped and woke up.

David moved a concern hand over Astrid's shoulder, silently asking if she was alright. "I'm fine. Just- Just healing people down here is a bit more... draining."

After explaining where Ruby was, the werewolf answered, "The Underworld!? I don't understand. I used a tracking spell, so the cyclone would bring me to Zelena."

"Ruby, she's down here, too." Emma pointed out.

"Wait, love. You came down here looking for Zelena?" Hook added.

Regina sighed in annoyance, "Why am I not surprised? Uh, what did my sister do now?"

Ruby admitted, "It's my friend, Dorothy. Zelena wanted to get her magic slippers so that she could get back to her baby."

Snow looked over at her and asked, "Ruby, what did Zelena do to your friend?"

"That's why I'm here. I don't know." Red began to explain, "Dorothy went to face her and just disappeared. Mulan and I looked everywhere, but we couldn't find her. Snow, this is all my fault. None of this would have happened if I hadn't shown up in Oz. It's just one more life that I have destroyed because of what I am."

Astrid shook her head and said, "That is not true and you know it. Ruby, we'll find out what happened to Dorothy. I promise."

"There's only one way we're going to do that." Emma added, "It's time to talk to Zelena."

"I'm coming," Regina replied, "I actually thought we were getting somewhere with her."

***

"Careful, Dad. Hades has eyes and ears everywhere." Astrid told David as she, Hook, Zephyr, Henry, and David walked across the street to the payphone.

"Is the line usually this long?" Henry spoke up curiously.

"That's not the line. Something's wrong." David replied and ran over to the payphone, "Hey! What do you think you're doing?"

Cruella simply answered with another question, "What does it look like, darling? I'm fulfilling my mayoral responsibilities by supervising some municipal improvements. Get on with it, Claude. Rip it out!"

"No, no, no! This is the only chance these people have to contact their loved ones." David pleaded.

"Oh, you mean it's your only opportunity to reach out and haunt your infant son?" Cruella remarked, "Looks like Chisel Chin Jr. will just have to go to bed without what I can imagine are terribly dull bedtime stories."

"Cruella, why are you bloody doing this?" Astrid spoke up, now standing next to her father and faced the woman.

"Is this because I won't write you back to life?" Henry also asked her.

Cruella looked over at the teenager and answered him, "No, Henry, darling. I'm not the one that ordered all the phones to be ripped out down here."

"Hades." David sighed.

"Well, with all you heroes running around the place, he feels there's a little too much hope bubbling up in his realm." Cruella replied.

"Well, you can tell him it's going to take a lot more than ripping out phones to discourage us." Astrid remarked.

Zephyr was halfway behind his mother who had a protective arm in front of him while he watched the woman in front of them.

"I will." Cruella smirked, "But in the meantime, if you wanted to strike a deal, I could look the other way while you made one last phone call. I mean, assuming I'd have the Author and his pen to write me back to life."

"We're not making deals with you." David told her as Cruella replied, "Have it your way. Do it, Claude. Ta-ta, darlings."

Claude pulled out the phone and now carried it as he walked behind Cruella.

***

"Snow!" David started as he ran over to where his wife, Regina, Emma, Red, and Peter stood in front of a grave. "We've been looking everywhere for you."

Hook, Henry, Zephyr, and Astrid caught up with them as Snow asked, "What is it? Did you talk to Neal?"

"Hades ripped out the phone. He's cut us off from Storybrooke." Hook answered for them.

"What? Why?" Snow began.

"Snow, Neal's fine." David assured.

"Wait, no. We don't know that." Snow began to panic for the safety of their son. "I mean, Hades did this for a reason. Maybe he's gonna make a move on Storybrooke now that we're trapped down here."

"Mom, this is exactly what he wants. For us all to lose hope." Astrid spoke up as she now stood next to her husband with their son in the middle of them.

"Well, it's hard not to when our child's life might be in danger-" Snow started.

Emma and Astrid shared a knowing look as Emma spoke up, "Mom, I think it's time."

"For what?" Snow let out, looking over at her daughters.

"For you to go home. Both of you." Astrid finished for her sister.

"We haven't completed our mission. We haven't defeated Hades." Snow replied, looking over at Astrid with tears in her eyes, "A, you're still, you know... We haven't saved you, yet."

Astrid smiled sadly, saying, "You've done more for me than you know. And so many down here."

"And I meant what I said, we came because we wanted to." Snow continued to argue.

"Because Astrid and I needed you." Emma spoke up, "Now your other kid needs you more. And Storybrooke might too."

"What about Hades?" David questioned, "We don't even know how to begin to fight him yet."

"Well, we'll just have to find a way to wage our war without the Charmings." Hook spoke up.

"But this is the Underworld. We can't just walk out." David continued.

"You can with the slippers," Peter spoke up as Red nodded in agreement, Emma adding, "Go to Oz with Ruby. Once you help Dorothy, you can click your way back to Storybrooke."

Astrid reached out to her parents, saying, "Mom. Dad. You've done enough. Go take care of the rest of our family. I'm going to be okay."

"You all are forgetting something." Regina then spoke up, "Hades carved Snow's name on a tombstone. Emma, you couldn't take it off. Even with the slippers, she can't leave."

"I can't, but you can," Snow spoke up towards her husband.

Astrid realized something else and looked towards her twin and father figure and said, "Em, you and Hook can go, too."

Emma shook her head slowly while Hook stepped over to his daughter, saying, "I'm not leaving you, AJ."

***

Astrid sat at the table, flipping through the storybook while Hook sat next to her as the tried finding answers.

David stepped into the room and looked at the two, "Anything?"

"Just that Auntie Em died in Kansas. No details. Not a clue." Hook spoke up.

David removed his jacket somewhat angrily, saying, "I can't believe it has to be me. Snow should be home. She should be with our boy. She should be going. She missed this time with Emma and Astrid. And now it's happening all over again. We shouldn't be here."

Astrid looked away from her father and down at the table in guilt as Hook noticed the look and David tried to correct himself for his daughter, "I didn't..."

"No, no, no. You're right, Dad. You shouldn't be here." Astrid admitted, "And I realize that I haven't said it yet, but thank you. I didn't want Peter and Emma to do this, let alone drag everyone along."

"Hey, we made our own choices, A," David replied.

"Really?" Astrid let out in somewhat surprise.

"Astrid, you're our daughter, too. And we all love you a lot. You should know that by now." David told her.

Astrid smiled a bit and remarked, "Well, you know, I tend to have that effect on people. Look, Dads, neither one of your names are on the headstones. You two can go. Ruby's your ticket out of here. You have to take it."

"AJ, I already told you. I'm not leaving." Hook said first to Astrid and then towards David, "But she's right, mate. You should go."

David sighed, "I wish it didn't have to be like this. But you're right. I just hope we can help Ruby."

Astrid then realized something and sat up straighter as the two men next to her looked over at her curiously yet confused.

***

Ruby placed Dorothy's cloth on Auntie Emily Brown's cracked stone and sighed. "Ready."

Regina stepped forward and handed the silver slippers over to the werewolf, saying, "Put these on. Think of where you want to go. Then kick your heels three times. David, you should take her hand and hold tight."

Astrid held her son in her arms and also laid her head on her husband's shoulder as Peter had his arm wrapped around the small of her back and kissed the top of her head.

"So I guess this is goodbye," David said and hugged his wife, softly laughing some, "We've done this before. We can do it again."

"When you get home, tell Neal I'll be there as fast as I can." Snow told him.

"Well, I was actually hoping that you could tell him that for me," David replied as Snow started, "David, you know I can't leave."

"Now you can." David commented as his wife let out, "What?"

"I removed your name from the headstone." Astrid admitted as Regina began, "Am I missing something? Emma already tried that."

Emma nodded and added, "Yeah, and it didn't work."

"Because you tried to erase the names," David spoke back up, now leading them over to their graves, "The rule down here is simple. Life for life. So I traded mine for yours."

Astrid looked at where she had burned her mother's name out and had replaced it with her father's name.

"David!" Snow began.

"No, no, hey," David assured his wife, "If one of us gets to go home and see our son, it should be you."

Emma looked over at her sister and asked, "How did you even do this?"

"Simple, Em. Hades overlooked one thing during my escape." Astrid explained as she and Emma hugged, "He enchanted me to carve these markers in the first place. I can't erase the names, like you, but I can change them."

Astrid moved back over to her son and kissed the five year old's cheek and added, "And, Mom, Peter and I want you to take Zephyr home."

Snow nodded in understanding after she finished hugging Emma goodbye. "I'll keep him safe, A... Now, I want you to find a way to come home with them also. Okay?"

Astrid nodded with tears in her eyes, saying, "I promise I'll try to find a way." She the hugged her mother who held onto her tighter.

Astrid stepped back and knelt in front of Zephyr who started to shake his head, tears also in his eyes. "Mommy, I-I want to stay with you and Daddy."

The former Viking kissed his forehead and brushed his tears off his cheeks with her thumbs. "Baby, it's not safe. This is for your best chance of being safe. We'll all be a family again sooner than later, Zep. I love you."

Zephyr wrapped his arms around his mother's neck and kissed her on the cheek. "Just come back to me, Mommy."

"I promise." Astrid reassured the boy and kissed the top of his head once more as Peter joined in the hug and added, "Be good for your grandma and look after your little Uncle Roland for Grandpa Robin, okay?"

At the mention of Roland, Regina spoke up towards Snow, "Snow, while you're up there, will you also look in on Roland for Robin Hood? I know he'd want me to ask you that."

Snow nodded, saying, "Of course. Tell him not to worry." She kissed her husband once more and picked up Zephyr before stepping back and now took Red's hand in hers. "Ready?"

"Let's go find Dorothy." Ruby commented while Zephyr looked back at his parents as he held onto his grandmother and sadly smiled.

Ruby clicked her heels three times and the three of them soon vanished in a cloud of white smoke.

Emma and Astrid both grabbed each other David's hands in theirs as he gave them both a sad smile.

***

Snow, Ruby, and Zephyr appeared in Oz where a crowd of people and Mulan was gathered around an unconscious Dorothy on a table-like bed. "Ruby! Snow!"

"What? You found her?" Red began, removing her hood as Mulan replied, "I've been waiting for you to get back. She's under-"

"A sleeping curse. I know." Ruby finished for her, "Thank you for taking care of her."

"I've had some experience with this sort of thing." Mulan shrugged.

"Ru, you can do this," Zephyr spoke up from in between Snow and the werewolf as he smiled at the said woman.

"Go." Snow also encouraged softly.

"Okay," Red smiled at the two of them and took a deep breath before walking over to Dorothy and reluctantly kissed her on the lips.

A rainbow-colored gust of wind soon followed after the kiss, pushing everyone slightly back as they smiled in relief.

Dorothy gasped and opened her eyes and looked over at Red, "Wolfie?"

"Kansas," The said werewolf murmured in relief, elated. Toto barked happily then.

"Well... Well..." Dorothy sat up slowly and looked at her as Ruby continued, "You left without saying anything."

"I was afraid." Dorothy started, "I couldn't lose you to Zelena."

Ruby softly chuckled, "Well, yeah, but I almost lost you."

"You didn't," Dorothy said, "You came back for me."

"I always will." Ruby assured her softly as the two kissed repeatedly happily.

Zephyr looked up at his grandmother and grinned as she moved an arm around his shoulders and smiled also.

***

"After what Hades did, we have to hit back, and hard," Emma stated as she sat down at the table.

"Aye, love, but how?" Hook agreed but also had no idea how do that, yet.

Henry stepped down the stairs with a few pages in hand and moved over to them. "Grandpa, Astrid, I thought you'd like to see the latest. Grandma and Zephyr made it back to Storybrooke."

Astrid looked over her father's shoulder at the picture of her mother holding her baby brother, Neal, in her arms with Zephyr right beside them and looking down at his baby uncle.

"Thanks, Kid. Now, let's go figure out how to join them." David told his grandson and moved over to the table.

"What is it?" Emma and Peter simultaneously asked the man as he slid the pages in front of them and answered, "Snow and Zephyr, they made it."

Astrid sat down on her husband's lap as the two kissed, now relieved that their son was no longer in danger in the Underworld.

✖️✖️✖️✖️